---
id: cage_img
title: "Imaginary Landscape No.1"
year: 1939
category: "Ideas"
lang: en
canonical: https://nodemusic.cc/node/cage_img
source: node.music
---

# Imaginary Landscape No.1 (1939)

Ideas · https://nodemusic.cc/node/cage_img

## Summary

John Cage brought turntables, not instruments, into the concert hall. He used radio studio test tones as music. This was the first step toward the idea that any noise, even technical hum, can be art.

## Full text

In this work, Cage used a radio studio not for recording, but as a concert instrument. Two turntables played Victor test records containing constant frequencies (test tones used by engineers to calibrate equipment). The performer manipulated the rotation speed, creating sliding glissandi.

Cage also utilized a muted piano and a cymbal. Importantly, this was not improvisation but a strictly structured piece. Cage demonstrated that the 'musicality' of a sound depends not on its beauty, but on its context: even a dry technical signal can become art.

## People

- John Cage (1912–1992) — American avant-garde composer.

## Connections

### Influenced by

- [Art of Noises](https://nodemusic.cc/node/russolo.md) - INSPIRED

### Influenced

- [Forbidden Planet](https://nodemusic.cc/node/barron.md) - COLLABORATED
- [Elektronische Musik / WDR](https://nodemusic.cc/node/wdr.md) - INSPIRED
- [Deep Listening](https://nodemusic.cc/node/oliveros.md) - INSPIRED
- [Music for Solo Performer](https://nodemusic.cc/node/music-for-solo-performer.md) - INSPIRED

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imaginary_Landscape